OPENERS: SUITS

OPENERS: SUITS; TOUGH LOVE

By Mark A. Stein

Published: August 15, 2004

In the latest issue of Boeing Frontiers, the in-house magazine of the Boeing Company, the chief executive, Harry C. Stonecipher, offers some advice to his folks: stop whining.

''If you are worried that your job will be outsourced or go away,'' he writes in his column, called Straight Talk, ''you may want to take the initiative to learn a new, more in-demand set of skills that will help you become more competitive within Boeing and elsewhere.''

He adds: ''I'm perturbed that people still look back and grumble about 'the merger' (of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in 1997) or 'the acquisition' (of any other companies, including the defense and space portions of Rockwell in 1996). By now it should be clear: Together (warts and all), we are much stronger and more competitive than any of us would be as independent companies.''

Mr. Stonecipher, who once headed McDonnell Douglas, left retirement last year to run Boeing after Philip M. Condit resigned in the wake of an ethics scandal at the company. Mark A. Stein